Rav Eliyahu HaGaon MiVilna, or Rabbi Elijah the Vilna Gaon, was an eighteenth century Lithuanian Jewish scholar. Though he never accepted an official appointment, he was widely regarded as the Chief Rabbi of Vilna, and was titled its Gaon. The term translates as "genius", and hadn't been formally applied since the period of the Babylonian, Egyptian, and North African Gaonim, approximately the 7th through 11th centuries C.E. Rav Eliyahu is commonly referred to as the "Gra", a Hebrew abbreviarion for "Gaon Rabbi Eliyahu".

From time to time in his commentaries on the Talmud, the Vilna Gaon would even disagree with that source over its interpretation of the Mishnah, therein picking a fight with his predeccessors by about 1500 years. As a teacher, he also criticized the stiflingeducational methods of pilpul (hair splitting dialectic) and chilluk (sophistry). Under the leadership of the Gaon, Vilna became Europe's premiere center of Torah study, acquiring the honorific nickname "the Jerusalem of Lithuania". The Vilna Gaon's student, Rabbi Chaim of Volozhin, founded the Volozhiner Yeshiva, also an influential institution.

The followers of the Vilna Gaon were called Misnagdim (singular: Mitnageid), or "opponents". Today, all Orthodox Jews either observe Hasidism or Mitnagdut, "opposition". The acrimony between the two branches of Orthodoxy has dulled and each tends to tolerate, even respect, the other. Since the 18th century they have drawn closer together, as Hasidism eventually itself produced a number of scholars and also corrected its counter-legalistic tendencies. However, some members Hasidic sect of Chabad-Lubavitch bear a grudge towards the Vilna Gaon for disrespecting their Rabbis.

What follows is an incomplete list of books by the Vilna Gaon; most of them were transcribed by his son Rabbi Avraham or by his students. These are mostly books of moral advice and Jewish thought- his commentaries tend to be published alongside and under the name of the texts that they comment on:

*In response to some confusion, this is not a real Advanced Placement class offered by the College Board. A.P. tests in Medeival and Modern Jewish History classes are administered by Yeshiva University in New York City, and students can recieve college credit at Y.U. for these two classes. I never intended to attend Y.U., but I took A.P. Med. JHist in high school because it was fucked up and interesting.